Netanyahu, Liberman Approve 2,500 Homes in Judea and Samaria

Residents of Amona and the Yesha Council said Tuesday that a government decision to build 2,500 homes in Judea and Samaria communities was not sufficient for local needs.

In a statement following an announcement that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman had approved building permits for 2,500 housing units in Judea and Samaria, spokespeople for the settlement communities said the announcement was little more than a drop in what should be a very large bucket, given assumed support for settlement building from the Trump administration in Washington.

“After years where building was completely dried up this is a very limited decision that does not meet the need for Jewish settlement in Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley,” the Council said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the decision is designed to look like there is a lot of building, but in practice only a few hundred homes will be built. The rest will be like the other times – the rest [of the permits] are limited to the planning realm.

“Furthermore, we are very concerned that a government that takes pride in building in settlement blocs it would have been better for this announcement not to have been published at all. The American government has changed and Israeli policy must change as well. The Israeli government must approve all building proposals currently on the table and issue building tenders for all areas of Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley.

The Netanyahu-Liberman plan calls for most of the units to be built in large settlement blocs, including 900 permits going to Ma’aleh Adumim and 100 to Givat Ze’ev. Other towns to benefit from the decision include Efrat, Bet El, Psagot, Elkana, Migron, Emmanuel and others.

“We are returning to normal life in Judea and Samaria,” said Defense Minister Liberman.

Liberman is also expected to bring plans for a large Palestinian industrial zone near Tarkumiyeh, south of Jerusalem, for a vote in the cabinet.